Door-fastener



(No Model.)

A. B; GAMINETTI.

DOOR FASTENER N0. 553,496. Patented Jan. 21, 1896.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIcE.

ANTHONY B. CAMINETTI, OF SAN FRANCISCO, ASSIGNOR OF ON'EIIALF TO ELLA E. CAMINE'ITI, OF JACKSON, CALIFORNIA.

DOOR-FASTEN ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 553,496, dated January 21, 1896.

Application filed July 18, 1895.

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ANTHONY B. CAMINETTI, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city and county of San Francisco, State of California, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Door-Fasteners, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has reference to improvements in that class of devices that are used for fastening the doors of private apartments from the inside in order to prevent thieves from gaining admittance in to them and otherwise to secure the same against intrusion.

The object of my improvement is to provide a contrivance of the class aforesaid which will be portable, light, easily operated, and can be applied to or removed from a door without the use of tools and without leaving marks of any sort, yet affording all needed protection and capable of inspiring that confidence to the persons using it which is derived only from the knowledge that the device employed is a truly effective one.

Referring to the drawings hereto annexed for a description of my improved fastener, Figure 1 is a plan view illustrating the application of said fastener to an ordinary door. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the device removed from the door. Fig. 3 is a side View. Fig. 4 is a cross-section on the line an m of Fig. 3, looking in the direction of the arrow. Fig. 5 is a perspective view representing the fastener closed and in shape to be carried in the pocket.

The same letters of reference are used to designate corresponding parts throughoutthe five views.

The letter A represents a thin serrated blade or plate adapted to be jammed in between a door Band its casing C, in the position illus trated at Fig. l, and carrying to one side a square head or lug a fitting in the keeper provided in the door-jamb for the bolt of the door-lock. The lug carried by the blade is made so as to be readily inserted into the keeper of any lock or latch, whether the same be right or left hand, mortise or rim, and it has a concave or inwardly-receding corrugated face a that bears 011 the edge or side, as the case may be, of the keeper, and holds the blade close thereto in such a way that it Serial No. 556,413. (No model.)

cannot be withdrawn without first opening the door.

Over the blade A fits a sheathD consisting of a block having a central longitudinal groove d and adapted to he slipped upon and cover the blade and head thereof for their entire length. This block is preferably cast in one piece and made rectangular in crosssection, being thin at one end,where it covers the serrated part of the blade, and enlarged at the other end to form a head cl, which is cut away or recessed, as at (P, to receive the lug of the blade. The lower edge of the recess d is nicked at d to permit the insertion of the thumb-nail in order to withdraw the blade from the sheath whenever is desired to use the fastener.

Across the head of the block D, back of the groove d, runs a hole d, in which is fitted a pin E provided with an inwardly-curved end 6 adapted to engage the teeth of the serrated blade. Suitable enlargements d d are made in both extremities of the hole (1*, one to allow the insertion and free play of the bent end of the pin E and the other to form a recess and bearing for a spiral spring F coiled around the pin under a suitably-shaped head 6. The curved end of the pin, it will be observed, is thrown into engagement with the teeth of the blade by this spring, the pin and blade being thus held normally and yieldingly in contact with each other. It will be seen, also, by reference to the drawings, that as the teeth of the blade are pointed outwardly and the inwardly-bent end of the pin is cut down to a sloping or beveled edge fitting between said teeth, the blade and pin work together as a ratchet and pawl and cannot be disengaged without compressing the 0 spring. The blade can be pushed inward, as the spring will yield sufficiently to allow the teeth of the blade to slip under the point of the pin, but it cannot be withdrawn without exerting pressure on the pin-head.

In using my improved fastener the blade is withdrawn completely from its sheath and the lug thereof inserted into the keeper of any convenient lock or latch to be found on the door which it is desired to fasten, or else into any suitable mortise or hole made in the door-jamb for the purpose, after which the door is closed, leaving the blade jammed in between the door and its casing and projecting inward, as shown at Fig. 1. This done, the block is slipped over the blade head foremost, in such a position that the point of the spring-pressed pin therein will ride upon the blades teeth and the head of the block is driven forward as far as it will go, or until it firmly rests against the side of the door and easing. If the door be now tried, it will be found that it cannot be opened from the outside without breaking it open, as the lug of the serrated blade is securely lodged in and bears on the keeper of the lock or door-jamb on one side and the head of the sheath engages against the door on the opposite side, the serrated blade and spring-pressed pin forming the connection between the two. It matters not, therefore, if the lock be picked and an entrance sought to be effected from the outside, the occupant of the room can rest safely and without entertaining any feeling of anxiety as to external interference from any one that may happen to be in the same building; but, should the person occupying the room desire to come out, allthere is to be done is simply to press upon the head of the pin protruding out of the sheath, so as to overcome the pressure of the spring and disengage the curved end of the pin from the teeth of the blade, when the sheath can be pulled off and the door opened. The blade can then be freed from the keeper or mortise it was inserted in and no one from the outside will have any means to find out that any fastener was used, as no marks are left on either the door or door-jamb. Having been removed, the parts composing the fastener can be put together again to form one piece, as represented by Fig. 5, which shows the device in convenient shape to carry in the pocket.

My improved fastener may be made of any suitable material, but I make it, by preference, of aluminum, which permits me to turn out a light, neat, and well-finished as well as useful article of the character described.

hat I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

A door fastener consisting of a thin serrated blade having a lateral lug or block at its inner end said lug or block being provided with a corrugated face, a sheath fitted over the outer end of the blade and provided with an enlarged inner end adapted to bear against the door and having a central longitudinal recess or groove to receive the lug on the blade, the inner wall of said recess being nicked, as at d, and the enlarged end of the sheath having a transverse opening below said recess a pin mounted in said opening and having its inner end bent to engage the serrations in the blade, and a spring coiled around said pin between the head of the same and the side of the sheath.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

A. CAMINE'TI. [L. s]

lVitnesses ELLA E. GAMINETTI, A. H. STE.1\IARIE. 

